Author's notes: Well I'm back ladies and gentlemen. A thousand apologies and Twinkies for being so lame and not updating sooner. A thousand bashes with a plastic bat to my computer for being so stupid and uncooperative this whole time. I finally have had the chance to post this and do hope that you guys like it.
I know this is out of nowhere but I'm really happy the month's over. Aside from the usual kooky stuff with my family, friends, sports and the never ending battle with my computer and homework, I finally found the time to write this. Now that my future is set for the next four years, I can just be me again. I KNOW SORRY TOO LATE IS LAME, BUT FOR THOSE WHO CARE I TRULY MEAN IT. NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONG IS A REASON FOR YOU TO FLOG ME WITH A WET TAMALE.
Summary: A storm blows through Tyson's town and none of them are ready for it. Kai sees a figure in the mist, but won't admit that he knows who it is. Wyatt just watches his life slip away and neither he nor Kai understand why things have to be hard. Kai will lose his grip on Wyatt and the promise to protect him will disappear in the blink of a scared eye.
' Stuff ' thoughts
" Stuff " talk
*** Stuff *** past
Chapter 8: Daises
Ray folded his arms as he watched over Kai and Tyson's beybattle. Dragoon was about to attack Dranzer, but the other beyblade moved left to dodge the attack. Ray's eyes widened at the sight. 'Kai's speed sure has improved. I better watch out, his speed might become faster than mine.'
"Wow, Dranzer's moving really fast," came the surprised exclamation from Hilary.
"It's speed on the attack has really improved," Ray said as his eyes darted back and forth to follow the battle.
"Meet Dranzer Volcano," Kenny replied with a touch of pride toward his handiwork.
The other three looked at Kenny, "Dranzer Volcano?" came the simultaneous reply from the other three.
"Look at it go," Ray said turning back his attention to the battle.
"Hey Kenny, why'd you only upgrade Kai's beyblade and not ours?" Max asked.
"Somebody's jealous," Dizzi replied in a sing song voice.
If they could see Kenny's eyes, Ray imagined he'd be giving the other boy an annoyed look, "After that last beybattle with Dunga, Kai's beyblade was so damaged that one more battle and it would have been completely destroyed. You're all on the same team and I hate to tell you this Max, but I had to fix his beyblade first."
"Hey you guys, could you keep it down, I can't concentrate," Tyson said in annoyance at the group. He let out a small growl as Dragoon missed another hit aimed at Dranzer. Kai smirked, as Dranzer moved forward to attack Dragoon, but it quickly turned into a gasp of surprise as another beyblade joined the fray. I spun around Dragoon and then slammed into his, sending Dranzer flying back to him. He caught his beyblade and narrowed his eyes toward the direction it came from. "Who's there?" he yelled out. There was some small movement from the bushes until a boy their age came out. "It's you," he said his face laced with a hint of displeasure. His friends turned surprised and curious gazes on the new boy.
Hilary scrutinized the boy from head to toe sizing him up as he came closer. She looked at his short and neat auburn hair. Unlike the rest of the boys around her, his bangs were tidy and didn't really fly all over the place. The chocolate brown color of his eyes stood out against his alabaster skin. Hilary thought he would have looked like any other boy, if it weren't for the rest of his appearance. It wasn't that he necessarily looked bad, but his choice of clothing caught her attention most.
A red tie and white shirt could be seen under the school uniform of a green jacket over gray pants. When he stopped walking she looked at the fancy insignia of the coat and realized that he wasn't from just any school in the city, her guess was that he was from some fancy prep school. She looked between the new boy and Kai, seeing the glaring differences and wondering how they could possibly know each other. The new boy gave Kai a gentle smile, but only Hilary noticed something different shining in his eyes.
"Long time no see, huh Kai? I'm sorry for interrupting your practice, but I just couldn't wait to see what you and Dranzer were up to," he said matching Kai's fierce gaze with his calm one. He saw something pass through Kai's eyes before it quickly vanished. His smile widened more, realizing that Kai understood what he meant. Truth be told, he started to wonder if the other boy had missed him as well. He looked at the other boy's tense posture and started to think his coming here like this might have been a bad idea. His eyes shifted over to the small group gawking at him, realizing his rude error.
"Hi, my name's Wyatt," his tone calm and friendly, "I'm Kai's friend. He and I both go to the same school and were in the same dorm together." He received smiles in return, seeing their tension towards him slightly slip away.
He turned his attention back to Kai, seeing the boy's apprehension toward the introduction. 'Why would he say friend? Is he saying it for appearances or trying to tell me something?' Kai wondered as the boy gave him a smirk.
"Ya know, I had a funny feeling I'd find you here." Wyatt said candidly and it was true. When he had passed by the park, on his way to Tyson's house, he'd gotten a funny feeling in his stomach and had looked to see that he was near one of the walkways into the park. He hadn't expected to find Kai and the rest of the BladeBreakers practicing. The mysterious reaction had saved him the trip, but he couldn't help to chalk it up to coincidence. He continued speaking this time letting some of his inner emotions show through, "I've thought about calling you so many times, but I was afraid you'd just hang up on me because you'd still be angry with me for taking Dranzer."
Kai simply walked away from Wyatt to look out over the ocean. He didn't see the hurt look on Wyatt's face nor the simultaneous narrowed eyes towards him from Kenny, Hilary and Ray. Kai understood that although Wyatt knew Kai wasn't still angry at him, Wyatt was still afraid he would get angry at him now for being here. He sensed Wyatt's presence behind him.
"Kai, please listen. I've been training at the Beyblading Training Academy, putting lots of hours of practice in, but I've hit a wall in my training that I can't pass." He moved to stand more in Kai's view, seeing the eyes soften a fraction again. Taking that as a good sign he continued, "I came here to ask you to train me. I know I'm asking for a lot, but I need your help."
Kai shifted his eyebrow ever so slightly and Wyatt wondered if Kai knew he was being serious. Sure the training would have them spend more time together, but he was serious when he said that he needed help on his beyblading. He spoke again, "I got the talent and the focus, but I need someone to teach me." he turned hopeful eyes on Kai.
"No way. Go home Wyatt," Kai said harshly. How could the other boy ask him to take time from his own practice to train him? Everybody was after Kai and his friends and Wyatt didn't understand that he could be used against Kai. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before. Whoever this Gideon person was, it was obvious that he would be willing to do whatever it takes to get their beyblades. At the center of this, Wyatt was a liability right now and Kai couldn't risk anything happening to the rest of the BladeBreakers because of Wyatt.
"I'll do anything Kai, give me a chance," Wyatt's voice cried out. He knew he sounded whiny but he couldn't help it, he was worried about Kai's actions. He spoke again this time a bit firmer, "I can do anything you guys can. I'll train hard, I can do it, Kai, I can do it."
Kai only 'hmphed' in response and strengthened his resolve. The reaction he knew was inevitable appeared on Wyatt's face, but he still felt uneasy when he saw it. The light and innocence from Wyatt's eyes vanished and Kai saw it replaced with an angry fire of determination. Kai briefly missed the strange presence of the other boy as Wyatt moved away from him.
"Fine then, don't. I won't give up. I'll train and defeat you one day," Wyatt said angrily.
"Wyatt you'll never defeat me," Kai replied matter-of-factly. "We'll see about that," Wyatt muttered as he gave him one last angry glare before he ran off. The group that had politely stayed away, rushed over now.
Tyson spoke up first, "Why'd you do that, Kai? He just wants to be like you."
"What's the problem with him wanting to be a champ?" Hilary piped in. Kai walked away without saying a word.
"The problem is that he wants is a little too badly." Everyone turned their attention to Ray, "When Wyatt stole Kai's beyblade, he lost some of Kai's trust. If Kai trained him, he'd only be putting the team at risk."
Max pushed some of his blonde bangs out of his eyes and looked back at the retreating form of his teammate. He knew Ray was right, but something told him there was more to it than that. He couldn't quite place it, but there was something he and his friends weren't seeing.
Kai stopped walking once he was behind a cluster of trees. He looked through the shrubbery to see that his teammates had returned to practicing. He leaned up against a tree, letting himself cool off. He had controlled himself back there, but if he hadn't gotten out when he did, he would have said something that he'd regret later.
'You are already in regret, smarty.' Kai narrowed his eyes at the sound of his conscience speaking. "I hate that annoying voice," he muttered aloud. 'Love you too dear,' the voice answered back, 'Why did you again deny your feelings. We both know that you wanted to spend time with Wyatt and we both know that right now you need all the help you can get.'
"How can I trust him? If I mix him up in all this he's going to get used against me or worse like get hurt."
'Wow, I didn't know you had ESP.' the voice said sarcastically, 'You don't know that's going to happen. Isn't it also logical that by having him near you, you can prevent all your doomsday predictions? I know you're Mr. Realist, but damn it can't you be Mr. Optimist for once? By letting him go, you'll bring him down.'
"No," he said with nonchalance, "besides I think it's too late to do any sort of fix up you had in mind, something about the way Wyatt acted tells me it won't matter." No response came from the inner voice and Kai briefly started to wonder if he really was going insane. He took a deep breath and walked past all the trees and foliage, making his way back to his teammates.
~~~
Ozuma stared at his fellow comrades and thought about what they could do. Now that Joseph had verified what was going on with the scientists that were messing with cyber bit-beasts, their interference with the Saint Shield's mission was only going to be seen more. He rolled his eyes as Dunga began to pace back and forth, trying to come up with a plan.
"Don't pass out from thinking too hard Dunga," Miriam said with a sneer.
"Put a sock in it Miriam. I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas."
"At least I can come up with some form of thought connection," Miriam retorted back to the blonde.
"Yeah well while your lips are flapping, nothing important's coming out," Dunga replied.
"Will you two just shut up already?" Ozuma broke in. Joseph could see that their 'fearless leader' was getting more and more tired of Miriam and Dunga's arguments.
'How are we going to divide and conquer the BladeBreakers when our team is fighting like cats and dogs?' Joseph thought from his position on the crates. He sighed as he laid down on his back on top of the large crate he was formerly sitting on. He put his arms under his head and closed his eyes to think, but quickly opened them when he heard someone else lay down in the crate next to his. He saw Ozuma was in the same position he was in, but his eyes were open instead and staring at the ceiling. He sat up to see Miriam going into her own room and Dunga was walking out of the back exit of the warehouse. He shrugged his shoulders and laid back down in his earlier position, continuing to think over what he saw earlier today.
He didn't think he'd ever understand why those scientists thought it was a brilliant idea to tamper with nature the way they did. He believed in the purity of bit-beasts and the strength that comes with time. Those fake bit-beasts had no spirit, they were only pathetic bits of data thrown together. They may have had incredible power, but even he knew that such power was something that should never be created for lowly humans to have control over.
"Joseph."
He turned his head slightly to see Ozuma was still looking up at the ceiling. He turned his gaze up to the ceiling as well, and waited for Ozuma to continue, "If those scientists got a hold of someone who could withstand the power of the cyber bit-beasts, who do you think would win in a beybattle if they were to go against us?"
Joseph was silent, giving the question serious thought, something Ozuma didn't expect from the jokester. "It really depends on what the other beyblader can do and which one of us it is that they're battling against. I'm not going to say that of course we'd win, because after what happened the last time with the BladeBreakers it's only proof that if we don't prepare we're going to be defeated."
"Hmph, tell that to Dunga and Miriam," Ozuma replied.
"No, I think they know that, but they don't worry about it as much as you do," Joseph said casually. Ozuma finally turned his head to look at the green-haired boy. "I think about it...sometimes ya know. I question whether or not Vanishing Moot will be strong enough against those cyber bit-beasts."
"You shouldn't worry Joseph, you're a great beyblader. If you focus your mind you will do fine against them." Ozuma returned his gaze up to the ceiling before closing his eyes again in deep thought. Joseph's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected compliment, one especially coming from Ozuma. The boy was almost as hard to impress as the head elder of their village. He briefly looked at the silent boy next to him, before closing his eyes and thinking back to everything that had gotten him this far. Unlike the others, he genuinely wondered why the elder had selected him that day.
Joseph didn't doubt his skills, but the nagging feeling that he wasn't the original choice for the 4th member of the Saint Shields team kept bugging him. He'd seen the others do battle before and had seen their strengths, like how Ozuma displayed fierce determination, or how Dunga showed continuous strength, and even his sister showed extraordinary cunning. If Joseph had to pick his strength he'd say it was his speed. It wasn't that his teammates lacked it, but he was just a fraction quicker at it than they were. Joseph was about to ask Ozuma what he thought on the matter, when he heard a small sound coming from the other boy.
Joseph slowly sat up and looked down at the red and black haired boy. He furrowed his eyebrows when he heard the noise again, this time louder. He lowered his ear toward the boy's mouth and listened intently. He nearly burst out laughing when he realized it was a snore. He chuckled inwardly as he saw Ozuma's laidback expression. 'So only when he's asleep does he lose that serious expression on his face.' Joseph thought. An idea came to his head, one that he knew he'd pay for later, but he just couldn't help himself from taking the opportunity.
He picked up his cloak and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for, his red gel pen. He'd seen while he was shopping for supplies and when he'd asked about it, the female owner had explained that you could write or draw much more interesting designs because of the gel ink inside. She'd demonstrated it on a sheet of paper and Joseph had immediately liked it, already thinking of it's many funny future uses.
He carefully edged the tip towards the other boy and slowly began to run it through Ozuma's face. After a few seconds he held it up to inspect his work so far before he continued again. He had left a small space on Ozuma's left cheek and with careful precision he had nervously drawn a special symbol for his own name. When Joseph looked back at his work, his eyes quickly roamed to the spot where the symbol was. He swallowed nervously before safely tucking away the pen back into his cloak. 'I must be out of my mind to have done that.'
He tried to get off the crate silently, but ended up falling off it instead and waking up Ozuma. The sleepy boy sat up and stretched as he rubbed his eye. He heard a groan below him and turned a raised eyebrow at the sight of Joseph sprawled out on the floor. Ozuma just shook his head as he hopped off the crate and extended a hand to him. Joseph took the offered hand came eye to eye with Ozuma.
"Thanks," he gave Ozuma a big smile before walking away snickering. Miriam walked out of her room and down the hallway in search of her brother. She stopped at the foot of the staircase and saw him laughing lightly as he walked away. She looked over at Ozuma and began to giggle loudly. The sound of the siblings laughing made Ozuma's turn toward them in curiosity. This was the sight that Dunga was greeted with as he walked back into the warehouse. He looked up in confusion to see Miriam laughing at the top of the stairs and Joseph laughing as he leaned against a wall. He saw Ozuma's confused expression turn towards him and saw that...Ozuma's face...looked...so...funny! He gave a loud chortle as he stood there and laughed at the red and black haired boy in front of him.
Ozuma having had enough of this yelled out, "What are you all laughing at?!" Immediately the other three stifled their laughter before Dunga called out, "Your face!" This gave Miriam and Joseph a renewed round of muffled snickers. Ozuma quickly walked toward one of the windows nearby and his eyes widened when he saw his reflection. The word 'Loser' was scribbled on his forehead, while a red pen goatee was on his mouth, next to heart and squiggle designs on his cheeks. His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the reflection of Joseph sneaking away.
"Joseph!" Ozuma growled out, but it was too late and the boy had disappeared behind the crates. Joseph winced as he heard Ozuma growl out his name is anger, but remained hidden where he was. Ozuma finally gave up looking for him after a few minutes and simply said, "Joseph, I know you're hiding somewhere in here, so listen carefully, your next task is to find more information on who this new beyblader is going to be and report back to me before nightfall. Fail to do that, and I will come after you."
With that said, Ozuma turned around and began to walk back toward Miriam and Dunga. "Get ready, in ten minutes practice starts." Dunga and Miriam watched silently as Ozuma went to the washroom. Dunga chuckled again, "Hah, you really did it this time Joseph."
"Yes little brother, if I were you I would do whatever it takes to not fail in this mission."
Joseph narrowed his eyes and crept out of the warehouse silently. He placed his hood on and took off into a run, his mind racing with worry, but not over the mission.
'What the-?' Ozuma stopped scrubbing his face, when he noticed it. There on the far side of his left cheek was a small geometric symbol on his face that he hadn't noticed before. Ozuma recognized it to be in the writing style of their village. He stood there trying to decipher it, until his eyes widened slightly and he dropped the wash cloth in surprise. He leaned closer to the mirror and knew there was no mistaking it. Joseph had written the formal symbol for his name on Ozuma's face. Normally he would not have paid attention to the act, because often times men and women would write the symbol of friendship on other's faces. But the act of putting one's actual name on a cheek represented something much stronger.
"Why would he do that? Is he just joking around?" Ozuma asked himself angrily. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at it again, "Or...does he...love me?" He looked at the red outlines of the name and picked up the washcloth again, contemplating what to do.
~~~~
Hilary and Max were going to kill Tyson slowly and painfully. Both stood in similar stances of disarray and were covered in food projectiles. Hilary huffed as she wiped the chocolate mousse from her face while Max tried with little success to get the mashed potatoes out of his hair. Meanwhile Kai, Ray and Kenny couldn't help but cover and hide their faces in embarrassment while the whole restaurant stared at Tyson in displeasure. The blue-black haired boy could only laugh nervously.
"We were here for only 10 minutes and Tyson already managed to get us kicked out," said Kai dryly.
"What are the chances we'll ever find a place where Tyson won't cause a food stunt?" Ray said, a sweat drop on his forehead.
"The odds of that are too hard for even Dizzi to compute," Kenny said with a sigh.
Hilary and Max were approaching the other boy, but he was "saved" by the appearance of the waiter. The waiter looked like he wanted to laugh as Tyson accepted his offered hand to get up. The waiter looked down at Tyson's blushing face, "Is your name Kinomiya Tyson?"
Tyson raised an eyebrow at the bizarre question before he nodded. The waiter gave a nod, "Ok, well the next time you chose to eat here please inform the head hostess once you arrive," the waiter said before he simply left to begin cleaning up the mess. Now that they weren't blocked from attack, Hilary and Max stood menacingly over Tyson.
"Heheh, oh come on you guys, you can't be that mad at me. It was just an accident," Tyson said with a hand behind his head.
"Which wouldn't have happened if you had listened to all of us when we told you not to load up your plates with so much food," Hilary said in reproach.
"Or to run instead of walk between our table and the buffet," Max added, "Tyson your not always the most graceful or coordinated guy sometimes."
"So Tyson crashing over desert carts and knocking food off tables to launch it at his friends is an everyday thing?" a voice spoke up. The group looked over to see a beautiful young woman smiling at them. Tyson, Ray, Max and even Kenny looked over in awe. She tucked a loose strand of her brown shoulder length hair. Her warm brown eyes danced with mirth as she smiled at the group of youngsters.
Tyson looked at her red and black casual business suit and blushed slightly when he realized that she was in charge here. She bowed slightly to the group before she spoke, "My name is Minamoto Pilankoru, but you may just call me Pila. I have heard quite a bit about you Tyson. While this mess is cleaned up, I'd be happy to show you to a different table. Please follow me."
When she began walking the group followed after her. They walked passed the kitchen door and into a big black door next to it. The group gasped in surprise to see a much quieter and fancier setting.
"Oh wow," exclaimed Hilary.
"This place is sure different from the one next door." Max commented as he looked at everything.
Pila kept walking until she reached a table where they saw that a waitresses was already waiting for them. Pila stopped in front of the table and addressed both Max and Hilary, "If you go down this way, you'll see the restrooms and you'll be able to clean up...as much as you can inside." The two nodded before walking off in the direction of the hallway she pointed to. Once the boys had been seated, Pila finally began to explain, "This section of the restaurant is kept a bit of a secret. When celebrities come to our city many of them chose to dine here because of its reclusive and secretive setting."
"So you're letting us eat here because we're celebrities?" Tyson said smiling.
Pila smiled nervously, "Yes and partly because Tyson, after what my brother has told me about you, I think this restaurant will be much safer if you were catered to."
"Yeah less chances he'll crash into anything if he's sitting down," Ray replied.
"Ms. Minamoto, who is your brother?" Kenny nervously asked.
A sweat drop appeared on her face, but Pila answered in a friendly manner, "Let's just say that the impression that Tyson made on my brother gave him enough reason to warn me to have a fresh stock and that he be catered to."
"Well I don't really mind what the reason is, so long as we eat," Tyson said as he rubbed on his stomach which growled in response. His friends rolled their eyes, while Pila merely smiled.
At another table sat a young man with wild red hair. Blackman had not expected for one of his targets to appear out of nowhere. Then again, perhaps he would have the chance to observe him. After all, if he was going to be useful to Gideon, he had to understand how the other boy acted. 'I feel sorry for you Kai.' he thought sarcastically.
End of Chapter 8
Author's end notes: If you feel I am worthy, simply review. There is no more to ask nor to say in his chapter but that.
Laterz
Spider's Shout Outs:
(givin' a holla @ all sorts of peeps everywhere since 1985)
Summing up the Stars, Vialana, yamitammy, Shade25, Mizu-Tenshi, samb101, Cort-A-Ney, I luv Kai, Leina, Chibi Chaos Sama, Ikari Shinji-kun, vicki-bloom, Jun Tao,Eng~Lang, CJ, Dazzler, Abz, Nico 2, Akari-chan
If I missed anyone, give me un bofetaso. (a beating)
I know this is out of nowhere but I'm really happy the month's over. Aside from the usual kooky stuff with my family, friends, sports and the never ending battle with my computer and homework, I finally found the time to write this. Now that my future is set for the next four years, I can just be me again. I KNOW SORRY TOO LATE IS LAME, BUT FOR THOSE WHO CARE I TRULY MEAN IT. NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONG IS A REASON FOR YOU TO FLOG ME WITH A WET TAMALE.
Summary: A storm blows through Tyson's town and none of them are ready for it. Kai sees a figure in the mist, but won't admit that he knows who it is. Wyatt just watches his life slip away and neither he nor Kai understand why things have to be hard. Kai will lose his grip on Wyatt and the promise to protect him will disappear in the blink of a scared eye.
' Stuff ' thoughts
" Stuff " talk
*** Stuff *** past
Chapter 8: Daises
Ray folded his arms as he watched over Kai and Tyson's beybattle. Dragoon was about to attack Dranzer, but the other beyblade moved left to dodge the attack. Ray's eyes widened at the sight. 'Kai's speed sure has improved. I better watch out, his speed might become faster than mine.'
"Wow, Dranzer's moving really fast," came the surprised exclamation from Hilary.
"It's speed on the attack has really improved," Ray said as his eyes darted back and forth to follow the battle.
"Meet Dranzer Volcano," Kenny replied with a touch of pride toward his handiwork.
The other three looked at Kenny, "Dranzer Volcano?" came the simultaneous reply from the other three.
"Look at it go," Ray said turning back his attention to the battle.
"Hey Kenny, why'd you only upgrade Kai's beyblade and not ours?" Max asked.
"Somebody's jealous," Dizzi replied in a sing song voice.
If they could see Kenny's eyes, Ray imagined he'd be giving the other boy an annoyed look, "After that last beybattle with Dunga, Kai's beyblade was so damaged that one more battle and it would have been completely destroyed. You're all on the same team and I hate to tell you this Max, but I had to fix his beyblade first."
"Hey you guys, could you keep it down, I can't concentrate," Tyson said in annoyance at the group. He let out a small growl as Dragoon missed another hit aimed at Dranzer. Kai smirked, as Dranzer moved forward to attack Dragoon, but it quickly turned into a gasp of surprise as another beyblade joined the fray. I spun around Dragoon and then slammed into his, sending Dranzer flying back to him. He caught his beyblade and narrowed his eyes toward the direction it came from. "Who's there?" he yelled out. There was some small movement from the bushes until a boy their age came out. "It's you," he said his face laced with a hint of displeasure. His friends turned surprised and curious gazes on the new boy.
Hilary scrutinized the boy from head to toe sizing him up as he came closer. She looked at his short and neat auburn hair. Unlike the rest of the boys around her, his bangs were tidy and didn't really fly all over the place. The chocolate brown color of his eyes stood out against his alabaster skin. Hilary thought he would have looked like any other boy, if it weren't for the rest of his appearance. It wasn't that he necessarily looked bad, but his choice of clothing caught her attention most.
A red tie and white shirt could be seen under the school uniform of a green jacket over gray pants. When he stopped walking she looked at the fancy insignia of the coat and realized that he wasn't from just any school in the city, her guess was that he was from some fancy prep school. She looked between the new boy and Kai, seeing the glaring differences and wondering how they could possibly know each other. The new boy gave Kai a gentle smile, but only Hilary noticed something different shining in his eyes.
"Long time no see, huh Kai? I'm sorry for interrupting your practice, but I just couldn't wait to see what you and Dranzer were up to," he said matching Kai's fierce gaze with his calm one. He saw something pass through Kai's eyes before it quickly vanished. His smile widened more, realizing that Kai understood what he meant. Truth be told, he started to wonder if the other boy had missed him as well. He looked at the other boy's tense posture and started to think his coming here like this might have been a bad idea. His eyes shifted over to the small group gawking at him, realizing his rude error.
"Hi, my name's Wyatt," his tone calm and friendly, "I'm Kai's friend. He and I both go to the same school and were in the same dorm together." He received smiles in return, seeing their tension towards him slightly slip away.
He turned his attention back to Kai, seeing the boy's apprehension toward the introduction. 'Why would he say friend? Is he saying it for appearances or trying to tell me something?' Kai wondered as the boy gave him a smirk.
"Ya know, I had a funny feeling I'd find you here." Wyatt said candidly and it was true. When he had passed by the park, on his way to Tyson's house, he'd gotten a funny feeling in his stomach and had looked to see that he was near one of the walkways into the park. He hadn't expected to find Kai and the rest of the BladeBreakers practicing. The mysterious reaction had saved him the trip, but he couldn't help to chalk it up to coincidence. He continued speaking this time letting some of his inner emotions show through, "I've thought about calling you so many times, but I was afraid you'd just hang up on me because you'd still be angry with me for taking Dranzer."
Kai simply walked away from Wyatt to look out over the ocean. He didn't see the hurt look on Wyatt's face nor the simultaneous narrowed eyes towards him from Kenny, Hilary and Ray. Kai understood that although Wyatt knew Kai wasn't still angry at him, Wyatt was still afraid he would get angry at him now for being here. He sensed Wyatt's presence behind him.
"Kai, please listen. I've been training at the Beyblading Training Academy, putting lots of hours of practice in, but I've hit a wall in my training that I can't pass." He moved to stand more in Kai's view, seeing the eyes soften a fraction again. Taking that as a good sign he continued, "I came here to ask you to train me. I know I'm asking for a lot, but I need your help."
Kai shifted his eyebrow ever so slightly and Wyatt wondered if Kai knew he was being serious. Sure the training would have them spend more time together, but he was serious when he said that he needed help on his beyblading. He spoke again, "I got the talent and the focus, but I need someone to teach me." he turned hopeful eyes on Kai.
"No way. Go home Wyatt," Kai said harshly. How could the other boy ask him to take time from his own practice to train him? Everybody was after Kai and his friends and Wyatt didn't understand that he could be used against Kai. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before. Whoever this Gideon person was, it was obvious that he would be willing to do whatever it takes to get their beyblades. At the center of this, Wyatt was a liability right now and Kai couldn't risk anything happening to the rest of the BladeBreakers because of Wyatt.
"I'll do anything Kai, give me a chance," Wyatt's voice cried out. He knew he sounded whiny but he couldn't help it, he was worried about Kai's actions. He spoke again this time a bit firmer, "I can do anything you guys can. I'll train hard, I can do it, Kai, I can do it."
Kai only 'hmphed' in response and strengthened his resolve. The reaction he knew was inevitable appeared on Wyatt's face, but he still felt uneasy when he saw it. The light and innocence from Wyatt's eyes vanished and Kai saw it replaced with an angry fire of determination. Kai briefly missed the strange presence of the other boy as Wyatt moved away from him.
"Fine then, don't. I won't give up. I'll train and defeat you one day," Wyatt said angrily.
"Wyatt you'll never defeat me," Kai replied matter-of-factly. "We'll see about that," Wyatt muttered as he gave him one last angry glare before he ran off. The group that had politely stayed away, rushed over now.
Tyson spoke up first, "Why'd you do that, Kai? He just wants to be like you."
"What's the problem with him wanting to be a champ?" Hilary piped in. Kai walked away without saying a word.
"The problem is that he wants is a little too badly." Everyone turned their attention to Ray, "When Wyatt stole Kai's beyblade, he lost some of Kai's trust. If Kai trained him, he'd only be putting the team at risk."
Max pushed some of his blonde bangs out of his eyes and looked back at the retreating form of his teammate. He knew Ray was right, but something told him there was more to it than that. He couldn't quite place it, but there was something he and his friends weren't seeing.
Kai stopped walking once he was behind a cluster of trees. He looked through the shrubbery to see that his teammates had returned to practicing. He leaned up against a tree, letting himself cool off. He had controlled himself back there, but if he hadn't gotten out when he did, he would have said something that he'd regret later.
'You are already in regret, smarty.' Kai narrowed his eyes at the sound of his conscience speaking. "I hate that annoying voice," he muttered aloud. 'Love you too dear,' the voice answered back, 'Why did you again deny your feelings. We both know that you wanted to spend time with Wyatt and we both know that right now you need all the help you can get.'
"How can I trust him? If I mix him up in all this he's going to get used against me or worse like get hurt."
'Wow, I didn't know you had ESP.' the voice said sarcastically, 'You don't know that's going to happen. Isn't it also logical that by having him near you, you can prevent all your doomsday predictions? I know you're Mr. Realist, but damn it can't you be Mr. Optimist for once? By letting him go, you'll bring him down.'
"No," he said with nonchalance, "besides I think it's too late to do any sort of fix up you had in mind, something about the way Wyatt acted tells me it won't matter." No response came from the inner voice and Kai briefly started to wonder if he really was going insane. He took a deep breath and walked past all the trees and foliage, making his way back to his teammates.
~~~
Ozuma stared at his fellow comrades and thought about what they could do. Now that Joseph had verified what was going on with the scientists that were messing with cyber bit-beasts, their interference with the Saint Shield's mission was only going to be seen more. He rolled his eyes as Dunga began to pace back and forth, trying to come up with a plan.
"Don't pass out from thinking too hard Dunga," Miriam said with a sneer.
"Put a sock in it Miriam. I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas."
"At least I can come up with some form of thought connection," Miriam retorted back to the blonde.
"Yeah well while your lips are flapping, nothing important's coming out," Dunga replied.
"Will you two just shut up already?" Ozuma broke in. Joseph could see that their 'fearless leader' was getting more and more tired of Miriam and Dunga's arguments.
'How are we going to divide and conquer the BladeBreakers when our team is fighting like cats and dogs?' Joseph thought from his position on the crates. He sighed as he laid down on his back on top of the large crate he was formerly sitting on. He put his arms under his head and closed his eyes to think, but quickly opened them when he heard someone else lay down in the crate next to his. He saw Ozuma was in the same position he was in, but his eyes were open instead and staring at the ceiling. He sat up to see Miriam going into her own room and Dunga was walking out of the back exit of the warehouse. He shrugged his shoulders and laid back down in his earlier position, continuing to think over what he saw earlier today.
He didn't think he'd ever understand why those scientists thought it was a brilliant idea to tamper with nature the way they did. He believed in the purity of bit-beasts and the strength that comes with time. Those fake bit-beasts had no spirit, they were only pathetic bits of data thrown together. They may have had incredible power, but even he knew that such power was something that should never be created for lowly humans to have control over.
"Joseph."
He turned his head slightly to see Ozuma was still looking up at the ceiling. He turned his gaze up to the ceiling as well, and waited for Ozuma to continue, "If those scientists got a hold of someone who could withstand the power of the cyber bit-beasts, who do you think would win in a beybattle if they were to go against us?"
Joseph was silent, giving the question serious thought, something Ozuma didn't expect from the jokester. "It really depends on what the other beyblader can do and which one of us it is that they're battling against. I'm not going to say that of course we'd win, because after what happened the last time with the BladeBreakers it's only proof that if we don't prepare we're going to be defeated."
"Hmph, tell that to Dunga and Miriam," Ozuma replied.
"No, I think they know that, but they don't worry about it as much as you do," Joseph said casually. Ozuma finally turned his head to look at the green-haired boy. "I think about it...sometimes ya know. I question whether or not Vanishing Moot will be strong enough against those cyber bit-beasts."
"You shouldn't worry Joseph, you're a great beyblader. If you focus your mind you will do fine against them." Ozuma returned his gaze up to the ceiling before closing his eyes again in deep thought. Joseph's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected compliment, one especially coming from Ozuma. The boy was almost as hard to impress as the head elder of their village. He briefly looked at the silent boy next to him, before closing his eyes and thinking back to everything that had gotten him this far. Unlike the others, he genuinely wondered why the elder had selected him that day.
Joseph didn't doubt his skills, but the nagging feeling that he wasn't the original choice for the 4th member of the Saint Shields team kept bugging him. He'd seen the others do battle before and had seen their strengths, like how Ozuma displayed fierce determination, or how Dunga showed continuous strength, and even his sister showed extraordinary cunning. If Joseph had to pick his strength he'd say it was his speed. It wasn't that his teammates lacked it, but he was just a fraction quicker at it than they were. Joseph was about to ask Ozuma what he thought on the matter, when he heard a small sound coming from the other boy.
Joseph slowly sat up and looked down at the red and black haired boy. He furrowed his eyebrows when he heard the noise again, this time louder. He lowered his ear toward the boy's mouth and listened intently. He nearly burst out laughing when he realized it was a snore. He chuckled inwardly as he saw Ozuma's laidback expression. 'So only when he's asleep does he lose that serious expression on his face.' Joseph thought. An idea came to his head, one that he knew he'd pay for later, but he just couldn't help himself from taking the opportunity.
He picked up his cloak and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for, his red gel pen. He'd seen while he was shopping for supplies and when he'd asked about it, the female owner had explained that you could write or draw much more interesting designs because of the gel ink inside. She'd demonstrated it on a sheet of paper and Joseph had immediately liked it, already thinking of it's many funny future uses.
He carefully edged the tip towards the other boy and slowly began to run it through Ozuma's face. After a few seconds he held it up to inspect his work so far before he continued again. He had left a small space on Ozuma's left cheek and with careful precision he had nervously drawn a special symbol for his own name. When Joseph looked back at his work, his eyes quickly roamed to the spot where the symbol was. He swallowed nervously before safely tucking away the pen back into his cloak. 'I must be out of my mind to have done that.'
He tried to get off the crate silently, but ended up falling off it instead and waking up Ozuma. The sleepy boy sat up and stretched as he rubbed his eye. He heard a groan below him and turned a raised eyebrow at the sight of Joseph sprawled out on the floor. Ozuma just shook his head as he hopped off the crate and extended a hand to him. Joseph took the offered hand came eye to eye with Ozuma.
"Thanks," he gave Ozuma a big smile before walking away snickering. Miriam walked out of her room and down the hallway in search of her brother. She stopped at the foot of the staircase and saw him laughing lightly as he walked away. She looked over at Ozuma and began to giggle loudly. The sound of the siblings laughing made Ozuma's turn toward them in curiosity. This was the sight that Dunga was greeted with as he walked back into the warehouse. He looked up in confusion to see Miriam laughing at the top of the stairs and Joseph laughing as he leaned against a wall. He saw Ozuma's confused expression turn towards him and saw that...Ozuma's face...looked...so...funny! He gave a loud chortle as he stood there and laughed at the red and black haired boy in front of him.
Ozuma having had enough of this yelled out, "What are you all laughing at?!" Immediately the other three stifled their laughter before Dunga called out, "Your face!" This gave Miriam and Joseph a renewed round of muffled snickers. Ozuma quickly walked toward one of the windows nearby and his eyes widened when he saw his reflection. The word 'Loser' was scribbled on his forehead, while a red pen goatee was on his mouth, next to heart and squiggle designs on his cheeks. His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the reflection of Joseph sneaking away.
"Joseph!" Ozuma growled out, but it was too late and the boy had disappeared behind the crates. Joseph winced as he heard Ozuma growl out his name is anger, but remained hidden where he was. Ozuma finally gave up looking for him after a few minutes and simply said, "Joseph, I know you're hiding somewhere in here, so listen carefully, your next task is to find more information on who this new beyblader is going to be and report back to me before nightfall. Fail to do that, and I will come after you."
With that said, Ozuma turned around and began to walk back toward Miriam and Dunga. "Get ready, in ten minutes practice starts." Dunga and Miriam watched silently as Ozuma went to the washroom. Dunga chuckled again, "Hah, you really did it this time Joseph."
"Yes little brother, if I were you I would do whatever it takes to not fail in this mission."
Joseph narrowed his eyes and crept out of the warehouse silently. He placed his hood on and took off into a run, his mind racing with worry, but not over the mission.
'What the-?' Ozuma stopped scrubbing his face, when he noticed it. There on the far side of his left cheek was a small geometric symbol on his face that he hadn't noticed before. Ozuma recognized it to be in the writing style of their village. He stood there trying to decipher it, until his eyes widened slightly and he dropped the wash cloth in surprise. He leaned closer to the mirror and knew there was no mistaking it. Joseph had written the formal symbol for his name on Ozuma's face. Normally he would not have paid attention to the act, because often times men and women would write the symbol of friendship on other's faces. But the act of putting one's actual name on a cheek represented something much stronger.
"Why would he do that? Is he just joking around?" Ozuma asked himself angrily. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at it again, "Or...does he...love me?" He looked at the red outlines of the name and picked up the washcloth again, contemplating what to do.
~~~~
Hilary and Max were going to kill Tyson slowly and painfully. Both stood in similar stances of disarray and were covered in food projectiles. Hilary huffed as she wiped the chocolate mousse from her face while Max tried with little success to get the mashed potatoes out of his hair. Meanwhile Kai, Ray and Kenny couldn't help but cover and hide their faces in embarrassment while the whole restaurant stared at Tyson in displeasure. The blue-black haired boy could only laugh nervously.
"We were here for only 10 minutes and Tyson already managed to get us kicked out," said Kai dryly.
"What are the chances we'll ever find a place where Tyson won't cause a food stunt?" Ray said, a sweat drop on his forehead.
"The odds of that are too hard for even Dizzi to compute," Kenny said with a sigh.
Hilary and Max were approaching the other boy, but he was "saved" by the appearance of the waiter. The waiter looked like he wanted to laugh as Tyson accepted his offered hand to get up. The waiter looked down at Tyson's blushing face, "Is your name Kinomiya Tyson?"
Tyson raised an eyebrow at the bizarre question before he nodded. The waiter gave a nod, "Ok, well the next time you chose to eat here please inform the head hostess once you arrive," the waiter said before he simply left to begin cleaning up the mess. Now that they weren't blocked from attack, Hilary and Max stood menacingly over Tyson.
"Heheh, oh come on you guys, you can't be that mad at me. It was just an accident," Tyson said with a hand behind his head.
"Which wouldn't have happened if you had listened to all of us when we told you not to load up your plates with so much food," Hilary said in reproach.
"Or to run instead of walk between our table and the buffet," Max added, "Tyson your not always the most graceful or coordinated guy sometimes."
"So Tyson crashing over desert carts and knocking food off tables to launch it at his friends is an everyday thing?" a voice spoke up. The group looked over to see a beautiful young woman smiling at them. Tyson, Ray, Max and even Kenny looked over in awe. She tucked a loose strand of her brown shoulder length hair. Her warm brown eyes danced with mirth as she smiled at the group of youngsters.
Tyson looked at her red and black casual business suit and blushed slightly when he realized that she was in charge here. She bowed slightly to the group before she spoke, "My name is Minamoto Pilankoru, but you may just call me Pila. I have heard quite a bit about you Tyson. While this mess is cleaned up, I'd be happy to show you to a different table. Please follow me."
When she began walking the group followed after her. They walked passed the kitchen door and into a big black door next to it. The group gasped in surprise to see a much quieter and fancier setting.
"Oh wow," exclaimed Hilary.
"This place is sure different from the one next door." Max commented as he looked at everything.
Pila kept walking until she reached a table where they saw that a waitresses was already waiting for them. Pila stopped in front of the table and addressed both Max and Hilary, "If you go down this way, you'll see the restrooms and you'll be able to clean up...as much as you can inside." The two nodded before walking off in the direction of the hallway she pointed to. Once the boys had been seated, Pila finally began to explain, "This section of the restaurant is kept a bit of a secret. When celebrities come to our city many of them chose to dine here because of its reclusive and secretive setting."
"So you're letting us eat here because we're celebrities?" Tyson said smiling.
Pila smiled nervously, "Yes and partly because Tyson, after what my brother has told me about you, I think this restaurant will be much safer if you were catered to."
"Yeah less chances he'll crash into anything if he's sitting down," Ray replied.
"Ms. Minamoto, who is your brother?" Kenny nervously asked.
A sweat drop appeared on her face, but Pila answered in a friendly manner, "Let's just say that the impression that Tyson made on my brother gave him enough reason to warn me to have a fresh stock and that he be catered to."
"Well I don't really mind what the reason is, so long as we eat," Tyson said as he rubbed on his stomach which growled in response. His friends rolled their eyes, while Pila merely smiled.
At another table sat a young man with wild red hair. Blackman had not expected for one of his targets to appear out of nowhere. Then again, perhaps he would have the chance to observe him. After all, if he was going to be useful to Gideon, he had to understand how the other boy acted. 'I feel sorry for you Kai.' he thought sarcastically.
End of Chapter 8
Author's end notes: If you feel I am worthy, simply review. There is no more to ask nor to say in his chapter but that.
Laterz
Spider's Shout Outs:
(givin' a holla @ all sorts of peeps everywhere since 1985)
Summing up the Stars, Vialana, yamitammy, Shade25, Mizu-Tenshi, samb101, Cort-A-Ney, I luv Kai, Leina, Chibi Chaos Sama, Ikari Shinji-kun, vicki-bloom, Jun Tao,Eng~Lang, CJ, Dazzler, Abz, Nico 2, Akari-chan
If I missed anyone, give me un bofetaso. (a beating)